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Basic Operators

This document explains some of the most common operators used in ReactiveCocoa, and includes examples demonstrating their use.

Note that “operators”, in this context, refers to functions that transform signals and signal producers, not custom Swift operators. In other words, these are composable primitives provided by ReactiveCocoa for working with event streams.

This document will use the term “event stream” when dealing with concepts that apply to both Signal and SignalProducer. When the distinction matters, the types will be referred to by name.

Performing side effects with event streams

  1. Observation
  2. Injecting effects

Operator composition

  1. Lifting

Transforming event streams

  1. Mapping
  2. Filtering
  3. Aggregating

Combining event streams

  1. Combining latest values
  2. Zipping

Flattening producers

  1. Concatenating
  2. Merging
  3. Switching to the latest

Handling failures

  1. Catching failures
  2. Mapping errors
  3. Retrying

Performing side effects with event streams

Observation

Signals can be observed with the observe function. It takes an Observer as argument to which any future events are sent.

signal.observe(Signal.Observer { event in
    switch event {
    case let .Next(next):
        print("Next: \(next)")
    case let .Failed(error):
        print("Failed: \(error)")
    case .Completed:
        print("Completed")
    case .Interrupted:
        print("Interrupted")
    }
})

Alternatively, callbacks for the Next, Failed, Completed and Interrupted events can be provided which will be called when a corresponding event occurs.

signal.observeNext { next in 
  print("Next: \(next)") 
}
signal.observeFailed { error in
  print("Failed: \(error)")
}
signal.observeCompleted { 
  print("Completed") 
}
signal.observeInterrupted { 
  print("Interrupted")
}

Note that it is not necessary to observe all four types of event - all of them are optional, you only need to provide callbacks for the events you care about.

Injecting effects

Side effects can be injected on a SignalProducer with the on operator without actually subscribing to it.

let producer = signalProducer
    .on(started: {
        print("Started")
    }, event: { event in
        print("Event: \(event)")
    }, failed: { error in
        print("Failed: \(error)")
    }, completed: {
        print("Completed")
    }, interrupted: {
        print("Interrupted")
    }, terminated: {
        print("Terminated")
    }, disposed: {
        print("Disposed")
    }, next: { value in
        print("Next: \(value)")
    })

Similar to observe, all the parameters are optional and you only need to provide callbacks for the events you care about.

Note that nothing will be printed until producer is started (possibly somewhere else).

Operator composition

Lifting

Signal operators can be lifted to operate upon SignalProducers using the lift method.

This will create a new SignalProducer which will apply the given operator to every Signal created, just as if the operator had been applied to each produced Signal individually.

Transforming event streams

These operators transform an event stream into a new stream.

Mapping

The map operator is used to transform the values in a event stream, creating a new stream with the results.

let (signal, observer) = Signal<String, NoError>.pipe()

signal
    .map { string in string.uppercaseString }
    .observeNext { next in print(next) }

observer.sendNext("a")     // Prints A
observer.sendNext("b")     // Prints B
observer.sendNext("c")     // Prints C

Interactive visualisation of the map operator.

Filtering

The filter operator is used to only include values in an event stream that satisfy a predicate.

let (signal, observer) = Signal<Int, NoError>.pipe()

signal
    .filter { number in number % 2 == 0 }
    .observeNext { next in print(next) }

observer.sendNext(1)     // Not printed
observer.sendNext(2)     // Prints 2
observer.sendNext(3)     // Not printed
observer.sendNext(4)     // prints 4

Interactive visualisation of the filter operator.

Aggregating

The reduce operator is used to aggregate a event stream’s values into a single combined value. Note that the final value is only sent after the input stream completes.

let (signal, observer) = Signal<Int, NoError>.pipe()

signal
    .reduce(1) { $0 * $1 }
    .observeNext { next in print(next) }

observer.sendNext(1)     // nothing printed
observer.sendNext(2)     // nothing printed
observer.sendNext(3)     // nothing printed
observer.sendCompleted()   // prints 6

The collect operator is used to aggregate a event stream’s values into a single array value. Note that the final value is only sent after the input stream completes.

let (signal, observer) = Signal<Int, NoError>.pipe()

signal
    .collect()
    .observeNext { next in print(next) }

observer.sendNext(1)     // nothing printed
observer.sendNext(2)     // nothing printed
observer.sendNext(3)     // nothing printed
observer.sendCompleted()   // prints [1, 2, 3]

Interactive visualisation of the reduce operator.

Combining event streams

These operators combine values from multiple event streams into a new, unified stream.

Combining latest values

The combineLatest function combines the latest values of two (or more) event streams.

The resulting stream will only send its first value after each input has sent at least one value. After that, new values on any of the inputs will result in a new value on the output.

let (numbersSignal, numbersObserver) = Signal<Int, NoError>.pipe()
let (lettersSignal, lettersObserver) = Signal<String, NoError>.pipe()

let signal = combineLatest(numbersSignal, lettersSignal)
signal.observeNext { next in print("Next: \(next)") }
signal.observeCompleted { print("Completed") }

numbersObserver.sendNext(0)      // nothing printed
numbersObserver.sendNext(1)      // nothing printed
lettersObserver.sendNext("A")    // prints (1, A)
numbersObserver.sendNext(2)      // prints (2, A)
numbersObserver.sendCompleted()  // nothing printed
lettersObserver.sendNext("B")    // prints (2, B)
lettersObserver.sendNext("C")    // prints (2, C)
lettersObserver.sendCompleted()  // prints "Completed"

The combineLatestWith operator works in the same way, but as an operator.

Interactive visualisation of the combineLatest operator.

Zipping

The zip function joins values of two (or more) event streams pair-wise. The elements of any Nth tuple correspond to the Nth elements of the input streams.

That means the Nth value of the output stream cannot be sent until each input has sent at least N values.

let (numbersSignal, numbersObserver) = Signal<Int, NoError>.pipe()
let (lettersSignal, lettersObserver) = Signal<String, NoError>.pipe()

let signal = zip(numbersSignal, lettersSignal)
signal.observeNext { next in print("Next: \(next)") }
signal.observeCompleted { print("Completed") }

numbersObserver.sendNext(0)      // nothing printed
numbersObserver.sendNext(1)      // nothing printed
lettersObserver.sendNext("A")    // prints (0, A)
numbersObserver.sendNext(2)      // nothing printed
numbersObserver.sendCompleted()  // nothing printed
lettersObserver.sendNext("B")    // prints (1, B)
lettersObserver.sendNext("C")    // prints (2, C) & "Completed"

The zipWith operator works in the same way, but as an operator.

Interactive visualisation of the zip operator.

Flattening producers

The flatten operator transforms a SignalProducer-of-SignalProducers into a single SignalProducer whose values are forwarded from the inner producer in accordance with the provided FlattenStrategy.

To understand, why there are different strategies and how they compare to each other, take a look at this example and imagine the column offsets as time:

let values = [
// imagine column offset as time
[ 1,    2,      3 ],
   [ 4,      5,     6 ],
         [ 7,     8 ],
]

let merge =
[ 1, 4, 2, 7,5, 3,8,6 ]

let concat = 
[ 1,    2,      3,4,      5,     6,7,     8]

let latest =
[ 1, 4,    7,     8 ]

Note, how the values interleave and which values are even included in the resulting array.

Merging

The .Merge strategy immediately forwards every value of the inner SignalProducers to the outer SignalProducer. Any failure sent on the outer producer or any inner producer is immediately sent on the flattened producer and terminates it.

let (producerA, lettersObserver) = SignalProducer<String, NoError>.buffer(5)
let (producerB, numbersObserver) = SignalProducer<String, NoError>.buffer(5)
let (signal, observer) = SignalProducer<SignalProducer<String, NoError>, NoError>.buffer(5)

signal.flatten(.Merge).startWithNext { next in print(next) }

observer.sendNext(producerA)
observer.sendNext(producerB)
observer.sendCompleted()

lettersObserver.sendNext("a")    // prints "a"
numbersObserver.sendNext("1")    // prints "1"
lettersObserver.sendNext("b")    // prints "b"
numbersObserver.sendNext("2")    // prints "2"
lettersObserver.sendNext("c")    // prints "c"
numbersObserver.sendNext("3")    // prints "3"

Interactive visualisation of the flatten(.Merge) operator.

Concatenating

The .Concat strategy is used to serialize work of the inner SignalProducers. The outer producer is started immediately. Each subsequent producer is not started until the preceeding one has completed. Failures are immediately forwarded to the flattened producer.

let (producerA, lettersObserver) = SignalProducer<String, NoError>.buffer(5)
let (producerB, numbersObserver) = SignalProducer<String, NoError>.buffer(5)
let (signal, observer) = SignalProducer<SignalProducer<String, NoError>, NoError>.buffer(5)

signal.flatten(.Concat).startWithNext { next in print(next) }

observer.sendNext(producerA)
observer.sendNext(producerB)
observer.sendCompleted()

numbersObserver.sendNext("1")    // nothing printed
lettersObserver.sendNext("a")    // prints "a"
lettersObserver.sendNext("b")    // prints "b"
numbersObserver.sendNext("2")    // nothing printed
lettersObserver.sendNext("c")    // prints "c"
lettersObserver.sendCompleted()    // prints "1", "2"
numbersObserver.sendNext("3")    // prints "3"
numbersObserver.sendCompleted()

Interactive visualisation of the flatten(.Concat) operator.

Switching to the latest

The .Latest strategy forwards only values from the latest input SignalProducer.

let (producerA, observerA) = SignalProducer<String, NoError>.buffer(5)
let (producerB, observerB) = SignalProducer<String, NoError>.buffer(5)
let (producerC, observerC) = SignalProducer<String, NoError>.buffer(5)
let (signal, observer) = SignalProducer<SignalProducer<String, NoError>, NoError>.buffer(5)

signal.flatten(.Latest).startWithNext { next in print(next) }

observer.sendNext(producerA)   // nothing printed
observerC.sendNext("X")        // nothing printed
observerA.sendNext("a")        // prints "a"
observerB.sendNext("1")        // nothing printed
observer.sendNext(producerB)   // prints "1"
observerA.sendNext("b")        // nothing printed
observerB.sendNext("2")        // prints "2"
observerC.sendNext("Y")        // nothing printed
observerA.sendNext("c")        // nothing printed
observer.sendNext(producerC)   // prints "X", "Y"
observerB.sendNext("3")        // nothing printed
observerC.sendNext("Z")        // prints "Z"

Handling failures

These operators are used to handle failures that might occur on an event stream.

Catching failures

The flatMapError operator catches any failure that may occur on the input SignalProducer, then starts a new SignalProducer in its place.

let (producer, observer) = SignalProducer<String, NSError>.buffer(5)
let error = NSError(domain: "domain", code: 0, userInfo: nil)

producer
    .flatMapError { _ in SignalProducer<String, NoError>(value: "Default") }
    .startWithNext { next in print(next) }


observer.sendNext("First")     // prints "First"
observer.sendNext("Second")    // prints "Second"
observer.sendFailed(error)     // prints "Default"

Retrying

The retry operator will restart the original SignalProducer on failure up to count times.

var tries = 0
let limit = 2
let error = NSError(domain: "domain", code: 0, userInfo: nil)
let producer = SignalProducer<String, NSError> { (observer, _) in
    if tries++ < limit {
        observer.sendFailed(error)
    } else {
        observer.sendNext("Success")
        observer.sendCompleted()
    }
}

producer
    .on(failed: {e in print("Failure")})    // prints "Failure" twice
    .retry(2)
    .start { event in
        switch event {
        case let .Next(next):
            print(next)                     // prints "Success"
        case let .Failed(error):
            print("Failed: \(error)")
        case .Completed:
            print("Completed")
        case .Interrupted:
            print("Interrupted")
        }
    }

If the SignalProducer does not succeed after count tries, the resulting SignalProducer will fail. E.g., if retry(1) is used in the example above instead of retry(2), "Signal Failure" will be printed instead of "Success".

Mapping errors

The mapError operator transforms the error of any failure in an event stream into a new error.

enum CustomError: String, ErrorType {
    case Foo = "Foo"
    case Bar = "Bar"
    case Other = "Other"
    
    var nsError: NSError {
        return NSError(domain: "CustomError.\(rawValue)", code: 0, userInfo: nil)
    }
    
    var description: String {
        return "\(rawValue) Error"
    }
}

let (signal, observer) = Signal<String, NSError>.pipe()

signal
    .mapError { (error: NSError) -> CustomError in
        switch error.domain {
        case "com.example.foo":
            return .Foo
        case "com.example.bar":
            return .Bar
        default:
            return .Other
        }
    }
    .observeFailed { error in
        print(error)
    }

observer.sendFailed(NSError(domain: "com.example.foo", code: 42, userInfo: nil))    // prints "Foo Error"

Promote

The promoteErrors operator promotes an event stream that does not generate failures into one that can.

let (numbersSignal, numbersObserver) = Signal<Int, NoError>.pipe()
let (lettersSignal, lettersObserver) = Signal<String, NSError>.pipe()

numbersSignal
    .promoteErrors(NSError)
    .combineLatestWith(lettersSignal)

The given stream will still not actually generate failures, but this is useful because some operators to combine streams require the inputs to have matching error types.